Austin Center for Events program manager Bill Manno found himself in hot water last week when he was formally reprimanded following an investigation into his professional conduct around female co-workers. According to city investigators, Manno (who, among other things, is responsible for coordination of off-brand events during South by Southwest) skipped out on at least two meetings after he came to believe that a woman he worked with had developed an attraction toward him; threatened to reassign that woman and another at the behest of his own wife; and at one point ended a lunch with the woman he thought had the hots for him because “it is not appropriate for a married man to have lunch with a single lady,” according to a city memo. Manno has filed a grievance disputing many of these claims.
This article appears in September 22 • 2017.